For the first time in nearly a century, the United States will have front row seats to a total solar eclipse today as the moon passes between the sun and the earth.
To mark the occasion, Google has traded out the logo on its home page with an animated doodle that leads to a search for “solar eclipse science” and launches a quick list of eclipse facts on both mobile and desktop.
According to Google’s “Great American Eclipse 2017” doodle blog post, more than 7 million people will travel to the “path of totality” — the path created by the moon’s shadow on the Earth during a solar eclipse — as it stretches across the United States.
“It’s been 99 years since an total eclipse crossed the width the United States. This year, the 65-mile wide path of totality will sweep, sash-like, across the country, entering the map at Oregon and exiting at South Carolina.”
Map credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
In addition to offering a quick list of fun facts about today’s big event, Google’s doodle also provides links to a crowd-sourced solar eclipse photo project, detailed information around best practices for viewing the eclipse and a live stream of the event from NASA.
